We think dads are pretty awesome. And though we're not quite halfway through 2016, it looks like we're already in for a banner year. So in honor of Father's Day, we'd like to send an enthusiastic shout out to some notable moments in recent dad history.

What dads are making news?

$13 Million Dad: What's the definition of sacrificing for family? How about $13 million? That's what MLB player Adam LaRoche gave up earlier this year when management told him he could no longer bring his son to work. The upshot: he walked!leaving his big, eight-figure paycheck behind. There's dissent between player and management (and even some fans) about whether the junior LaRoche should have been in the White Sox clubhouse every day. But since it's safe to say $13 million is hardly change, the "family first" motto is an example of some admirably strong convictions. As LaRoche himself put it, "I haven't lost an ounce of sleep... zero regrets." Score one for fatherly love.

Bat-Blocker Dad: You're sitting in the stands enjoying choice seats at a spring training baseball game when suddenly a bat cracks in half and a giant piece of wood heads directly toward your son. What do you do? If you're Florida dad Shaun Cunningham, you calmly reach out and catch the bat shard in your outstretched hand. The miraculous moment was captured on film, with son Landon showing an understandable amount of surprise, and dad Shaun (a firefighter in his day job) showing a super-human amount of calm. "I saw the bat heading toward him," Shaun told a TV station, "I didn't really have time to think. I just kind of threw my arm out there." Nice play, dad.

Parental Leave Dad: New dad Mark Zuckerberg is known as a business star, but he may go down in history as the guy who did!well!nothing. "Nothing" is a relative term here since what the Facebook CEO actually did was take two months leave from work to be with his family following the birth of his new baby, which as anyone who's been there knows is doing a lot more than nothing. But the idea of a big mucky-muck dad taking time for the family speaks volumes!.saying specifically that acceptance for dads prioritizing family has arrived. Mark ; we send an enthusiastic "like."

Emotional Dad: Before Malia Obama donned cap and gown this spring to accept her high school diploma from the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., her famous father announced he would be absent from the podium. Why? It's not because he didn't get an invitation. "Malia's school asked if I wanted to speak at commencement" the president told reporters at a luncheon in January, "and I said no. I'm going to be wearing dark glasses ... and I'm going to cry." We applaud the candid confession. And we believe him. We hope he brought tissues.

Those are just a few of this year's dads of note. But news-making moments don't make the dad. In fact, we'd argue that it's day-to-day dad - the dad picking up at child care, making dinner, drying tears, reading books, bandaging boo-boos - that we love the most. AdWeek says the demise of the pejorative bumbling dad has given rise to the media touted "Superdad," able to leap over strewn building blocks, and change dirty diapers in a single bound.
If you ask us, we don't need a super human XY parent. We'll take plain-old dad.

Happy Father's Day!

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About the Author

Lisa Oppenheimer

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As Director, Brand Storytelling at Bright Horizons, Lisa writes “from the trenches” about the real life challenges of people in today’s workplaces: from the tensions of being a working mother, to working with millennials in the digital age, and everything in between. With a career ranging from freelance to full-time, Lisa brings a diverse employment background to her perspective.